Bryan baseball rallies late to secure win over Fairview in home finale

Bryan senior Joe Watson then scored on a passed ball with two outs to score the winning run and secure a 9-8 nonleague victory for the Golden Bears in their home finale at Sumpter Field in Bryan.

The Golden Bears’ offensive outburst in the sixth also answered seven unanswered runs from the Apaches and comes before Thursday’s Division II district semifinal against Defiance (21-4) at Memorial Park in Archbold. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

“It’s wild, man. It kind of just didn’t seem real for a minute,” Watson said. “Those last couple innings when we were going down, that’s when you’re starting to drop your head. And then all of the sudden we start hitting, we start hitting, we start hitting.

“It feels great.”

Jase Kepler got Bryan’s sixth-inning rally started.

Kepler smacked a one-out single to left, Noah Huard singled up the middle and Taysen Deckrosh dropped a bunt single to load the bases.

Watson then hit a single just beyond home plate to score Kepler, and Carter Dominique followed him with a two-run double to right-center field to tie the game.

“It was great for us to see him (Grine) because we know what’s coming Thursday. We’re going to see mid-80s, and him sitting mid- to upper-80s is great for us” Bryan coach Corey Walker said. “... We didn’t wait around that first-pitch fastball. We were short and quick, got the barrel to it, let his velo(city) kind of do the work for us. It was a great approach.”

Then with two outs, Watson bolted to home on a passed ball that landed just outside of Sumpter’s home plate dirt circle to give the Golden Bears (12-13) a 9-8 edge.

“It bounced off his glove and I wasn’t really sure where it went,” Watson said. “Everyone else is making fun of me for it being a bad read, but I saw it pop off to the grass and I just figured it’s now or never... So I figured I might as well go for it. See what happens.”

Landon Shilling, who entered the game in the fourth, sat down Fairview’s No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9 batters to seal the win.

Before Bryan’s rally, though, Fairview — which finished the season 12-14 — tallied five runs in the top of the fourth to swing momentum.

Adam Lashaway and Breaven Williams each had a bases-loaded walk, Eli Shininger and Jude Shininger each smacked RBI singles and Eli Shininger scored via a throwing error to make it 6-5 Apaches.

Fairview also added on to its lead in the top of the sixth. Lashaway laced a single, swiped two bases and scored via an errant throw when advancing to third with two outs.

Grine followed him up with a double to center and scored courtesy runner Noah Shininger to make it 8-5.

This came after a two-run single from Deckrosh in the first frame and a three-run third from Bryan. Deckrosh scored on a wild pitch in the third, while Dylan Dominique drilled a double to to bring home Watson and Carter Dominique.

“We didn’t give up. We were down early, we battled back. We made a few mistakes, but we still came back,” Fairview coach Andy Singer said. “But you tip the hat. And there’s a reason why Bryan is in districts is because they keep battling and they did.

“They got to Jackson five hits in a row and you tip the hat to that. They did their job.”

The Golden Bears totaled 12 hits on the night, with Watson (three singles, two runs, hit by pitch), Deckrosh (two singles, two runs, one walk), Kepler (two runs, double, single) and Huard (two singles, two runs) leading the way.

“It’s just going to roll over, especially hitting off Grine, seeing high-80s. That’s definitely going to be really good to see for Defiance,” Watson said. “We obviously struggled a lot to hit (Bradyn) Shaw, and we’re obviously going to see 90 again. So I think it was really good to see that again and get the sticks going again.”

Shilling got the win after 3 1/3 frames. The righty allowed four hits, two runs and one walk.

Fellow seniors Ayden Pelz and Colbrin Miley also saw action on the mound. Pelz tossed the first three frames and totaled one strikeout, three hits, one earned run and one walk. Miley only went 2/3 inning and had one strikeout, one hits, five runs (one earned) and four walks.

“We gave Ayden, Colbrin, Landon all a chance to pitch tonight,” Walker said. “They are guys who are great teammates. They haven’t gotten to play as much as they want this year.

“For them to come out here and gut it out on the mound, all three of them for us, find a way to win, I’m just really happy for those guys.”

Grine totaled two doubles on the night and took the loss. Elijah Arend, who pitched three innings of relief (four strikeouts, two hits, two runs, one walk), also chipped in a single, RBI and run.

Fairview also saw seven seniors play their last game in an Apaches uniform Monday.

“This a great group of kids that we’ve been with and have played a lot of baseball for us and have represented the school and community really well,” Singer said. “Very proud of them and we look forward to what they grow into and develop into, because this is the group of kids where you know that (they) are going to make a difference in the world.”

Monday’s game was also the Strikeout Diabetes game, where both teams and communities raised awareness for childhood diabetes.

“The night as it was wasn’t about wins and losses,” Singer said. “Tonight was about bringing awareness to childhood diabetes and we did that.”

“Thank you to Amy Dominique, Nathan Keel, Theresa Kuszmaul and countless other people to put this event on today,” Walker said.